Character vs. Personality

So, in any system where we have been drawing upon some symbol of authority, some image sanctioned by a higher authority which is not inherently in us, it is a suspicious thing. And those who depend on this prop to their personalities, some day they are going to collapse under situations which they would find very detrimental to their health, wealth and most of all to their egos. Because these things only build up our ego, without building up our character. They build up a sort of a false image which we can flaunt in public, and inside we may be humble, we may be kind, we may be all these things, but progressively the more you depend on these outward props there is a demoralisation of the inner self. Society calls it corruption. But it is only this fight of my inner nature to adjust myself with my external nature which I am showing forth-to achieve some balance which alone can give me a psychic well-being. Otherwise I am pulled between two forces which I cannot control.

So it is not surprising to find some people in high positions, especially those who wield tremendous authority, uncontrolled authority-they are ultimately the victims of things like ulcers, blood-pressure, heart attack. These are signs of tension. Now, tension and stress-today we talk a lot about these things, but we don't really understand what it is about. Spiritual science says, "When your inner self and your outer self are unbalanced, and more especially when they are pulling the string in opposite directions, beware!"…

This is true of any situation where an individual has to fight himself to be other than himself in the carrying out of his job, in the fulfilment of his responsibilities.

So, spirituality says, "INTEGRATE yourself". Even though the subject I have been given says 'Personality Development', at the conclusion you might perhaps find that what we have to really do is to throw away this 'personality'. Because 'personality' by definition comes from the ancient word 'persona' meaning a mask. It was in the old Greek tragedy, when the actors used to have masks depicting the various characters they were playing, that we have the word 'personality', which by inherent definition means that we are trying to appear as something we are not. So the modern connotation, "He has a nice personality," is a suspect word. If only people really knew what personality means, they would not use the word so much. Because it is like saying, "He appears rich!" Now, we don't say that to a really rich man. Or, "He appears educated!" to an educated man.

So, personality means, "He appears to be something which he is not!" When you say a man has a good personality, it means that: "I say the fellow looks to be something which he is not!" "He appears good, maybe he is bad!" So, personality by definition is something we put on outside, which we are not inside.

…So, if you follow this chain of thought step-by-step, what happens? You have a personality at the office; you have a personality at home; you have a personality with your children; you have a personality at the club…

Intuitive judgement is not infallible, not always infallible. When is it fallible for instance? When our desires colour it! When my mind says "No," my desire says "Go ahead, it does not matter; after all a few lakhs' loss doesn't matter." And he loses and he commits suicide. It did matter. So desires can cloud our judgement. That is precisely what happens when we depend more on our personality than our intuitive ability to judge. We are doomed to disappointment, doomed to failure, because knowing that my personality is a false front behind which I am hiding, if I am going to depend on it, it is like a soldier with a gun without any bullets in it, going to meet a band of desperadoes. Some may fail, some of those fellows may think it is loaded, but one desperado will come and club you with the butt of that gun! So, we are all wielding ammunitionless guns.

Spirituality says, "Reverse it. Don't have a gun; but have the ammunition. It is enough." And what is this ammunition we are talking of? CHARACTER, NOT PERSONALITY. So that is the most important departure that the professional psychologists and the spiritual psychologists make. One emphasises personality, the other emphasises character. Personality is false. Character is the truth, it is reality, it is something you have to build from scratch.

Character building cannot be undertaken by just reading books: "How to build a character by ten easy lessons"-there are many books. Character building is a brick-by-brick process, like we build a house. And, in that process, it is important to realise that we are not building a personality. When a man of character stands before you, you don't need to say, "He is a man of personality." Often, they have no personality whatsoever. If they just slip out of this room, you wouldn't even recognise them. I know because my Master was like that-a man in a simple dhoti and a simple kurta; if he walked out on the street, you could not distinguish him from anybody else! Because character is not something which is external. It may be reflected in your activities and your words, yes. But it does not show on your face. It does not show in the way that you are dressed. It is like the sunlight. You know, the sun is not aware that it is shining.

A man of character has not even the awareness that he is a man of character. It shines in everything that he does. Therefore such people attract, like they say, the moth to the candle. You cannot possibly accuse or praise the candle for attracting the insect; it is what it is, and being responsive to what it is, the rest of the insect life flocks to it. We flock to the light when we are in darkness. The truth behind the spiritual statement is: "Be yourself, and you will achieve much more than flaunting a false personality."